WaPo may be a nationally-read paper, but around these parts, it's still a "local" paper. Sometimes, they write about national stories with a local focus. We'll all get over it, possibly by reading any one of a thousand articles about the OK situations, and probably a few hundred about $your_locale's tornado preparedness.

Tornadoes, like earthquakes, are a risk in all 50 states; some areas just see them more often than others. FEMA can scream about this all they want, but a story like this in a paper like that can't be a bad thing.

This is an article in the Capital Weather Gang blog. Every day the CWG have to think of about 5 articles to write. Since tornadoes are in the news they wrote about tornadoes in this area. I don't see the problem.

Dr Dreidel:wxboy: That seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort to say "Don't forget that tornadoes happen here too".

WaPo may be a nationally-read paper, but around these parts, it's still a "local" paper. Sometimes, they write about national stories with a local focus. We'll all get over it, possibly by reading any one of a thousand articles about the OK situations, and probably a few hundred about $your_locale's tornado preparedness.

Tornadoes, like earthquakes, are a risk in all 50 states; some areas just see them more often than others. FEMA can scream about this all they want, but a story like this in a paper like that can't be a bad thing.

Yes, but I think 5 maps (one animated) and 2 charts to make the point is overdoing it. Any one of them would have been sufficient.

I didn't RTFA, but the mid Atlantic kinda has a similar geography (on a smaller scale) to the midwest, in that there are mountains to the west, and warm air coming from the south and cold air coming from the north, which is what causes severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to form.

wxboy:Dr Dreidel: wxboy: That seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort to say "Don't forget that tornadoes happen here too".

WaPo may be a nationally-read paper, but around these parts, it's still a "local" paper. Sometimes, they write about national stories with a local focus. We'll all get over it, possibly by reading any one of a thousand articles about the OK situations, and probably a few hundred about $your_locale's tornado preparedness.

Tornadoes, like earthquakes, are a risk in all 50 states; some areas just see them more often than others. FEMA can scream about this all they want, but a story like this in a paper like that can't be a bad thing.

Yes, but I think 5 maps (one animated) and 2 charts to make the point is overdoing it. Any one of them would have been sufficient.

CWG blog's thing is data. they lurve data. You know Planet Money on NPR, and their schtick on economics? young, hip, data driven? CWG is the same for weather.

For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

vernonFL:I didn't RTFA, but the mid Atlantic kinda has a similar geography (on a smaller scale) to the midwest, in that there are mountains to the west, and warm air coming from the south and cold air coming from the north, which is what causes severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to form.

/not a meteorologist.

Biggest difference that I can see is that the Atlantic generally acts as a relatively constant in terms of surface air temperature. That's not the case when you have the whole Heartland baking and a powerful high pressure comes blasting out of the Rockies.

The fark is this retarded headline on about? Because there was a really nasty twister in Oklahoma a D.C. based newspaper isn't allowed to write an article about D.C. based tornadoes? Is that the gist of this?

Carn:For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

No offense but hearing this area referred to as DMV is more annoying than people standing on the left side of Metro escalators.

Dr Dreidel:wxboy: That seemed like a ridiculous amount of effort to say "Don't forget that tornadoes happen here too".

WaPo may be a nationally-read paper, but around these parts, it's still a "local" paper. Sometimes, they write about national stories with a local focus. We'll all get over it, possibly by reading any one of a thousand articles about the OK situations, and probably a few hundred about $your_locale's tornado preparedness.

Tornadoes, like earthquakes, are a risk in all 50 states; some areas just see them more often than others. FEMA can scream about this all they want, but a story like this in a paper like that can't be a bad thing.

the Big T may be a risk across america but they seem to happen every damn year in a few spots. just as California forests go to flame every year and tourists get sun burned in FLA. every. farking. year.

The fundamental problem is that people actually live on the east coast. A "weak" EF2 going through downtown Baltimore for five minutes is gonna due a farkton more damage than an EF5 that never hits anything but cornfields in Buttfark, KS for half an hour.

That's what some people tend to forget. While the East coast may not be prone to particularly powerful weather, it does happen on occasion and when it does the population density becomes a serious problem.

yequalsy:Carn: For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

No offense but hearing this area referred to as DMV is more annoying than people standing on the left side of Metro escalators.

The fundamental problem is that people actually live on the east coast. A "weak" EF2 going through downtown Baltimore for five minutes is gonna due a farkton more damage than an EF5 that never hits anything but cornfields in Buttfark, KS for half an hour.

That's what some people tend to forget. While the East coast may not be prone to particularly powerful weather, it does happen on occasion and when it does the population density becomes a serious problem.

Yeah that derecho was pretty nutty. Several houses are still being rebuilt in my neighborhood because they were crushed by trees. Sandy took quite the dump on the states further north also.

Uisce Beatha:gopher321: Pardon me if I pull a Kinnison on this issue, but what the fark do you expect when you live in Tornado Alley? YOU GET GODDAMN TORNADOES EVERY YEAR, IDIOT! MOVE YOUR ASS OUT OF THERE!

Kinison lived in Tulsa for a while, and like most folks that live(d) in OK, it's not like he had a huge choice in the matter. So this:

skozlaw:That's what some people tend to forget. While the East coast may not be prone to particularly powerful weather, it does happen on occasion and when it does the population density becomes a serious problem.

How can children move out on their own? That is a pathetic thing to say that you have zero sympathy for those children who lost their lives. Most young adults also would not have the ability to afford that type of move.

Carn:For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

I am not trying to turn this into a regional "fight", but Iw as in tulsa soon after 9/11.

there was tons of shiat int he news and from peoplr about how crucial their oil infrastructure is and what a great target it would be for terrorists.

Point is that any "big" news will have peopel looking at how or if it would happen locally. WaPo for being a big paper does a lot of "local" stuff.

I can't really hate on the Post for using the tornado in Oklahoma to raise awareness and explain the need for preparedness in their own area. I'm sure lots of papers around the country that are in areas prone to tornadoes are doing the same thing, Subby. So, you know, try not to be a dick, okay?

I can't imagine the outcome if a strong twister ripped through the DC area. That body count and damage would be pretty extreme I think. It would be like a strong earthquake hitting New York or Chicago. Sure, it's a very distant possibility, but it's not impossible. You want to hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, you kind of want to know what the hell to do.

Uisce Beatha:Rapmaster2000: Knowing this makes Kinison an even bigger douche than he already was.

Knowing Kinison lived in OK as a kid makes him a bigger douche? Wow, interesting valuation system there.

You said this: Kinison lived in Tulsa for a while, and like most folks that live(d) in OK, it's not like he had a huge choice in the matter.

But Kinison's "joke" was that the people of Ethiopia just needed to move - the people that were being forcibly held in refugee camps far from their homes by a communist dictatorship engaged in a war with separatists. The Ethiopians didn't exactly have a huge choice in the matter either.

Maybe Kinison knew he was making an ignorant joke for dickheads. Perhaps it's just the level of respect he had for his fans.

liam76:Carn: For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

I am not trying to turn this into a regional "fight", but Iw as in tulsa soon after 9/11.

there was tons of shiat int he news and from peoplr about how crucial their oil infrastructure is and what a great target it would be for terrorists.

Point is that any "big" news will have peopel looking at how or if it would happen locally. WaPo for being a big paper does a lot of "local" stuff.

I think you're right, same thing goes on in many/most regions. It's just my opinion that weather related panic in DC is a bit higher than elsewhere.

Rapmaster2000:But Kinison's "joke" was that the people of Ethiopia just needed to move

So Kinison makes an obviously douchey joke, but it's worse because he grew up in OK, because, what, there are natural disasters there? So where else can someone not live in order to not make douchey jokes even more douchey? Cali sees earthquakes, fires, and mudslides, so anyone from there must be out, as must Fl, La, and TX from the hurricanes, I suppose. Anywhere else?

While it's true that a tornado can occur just about anywhere, the frequency and severity is much worse in those flat states with no tall buildings.

Here in NJ, we really don't have problems with serious natural disasters. The worst we've seen in recent times are hurricanes (I'm looking at you, Sandy!!)

I can only remember a handful of tornados and they were minor, and very few structures damaged. Really, I think most of the damage caused by Sandy was wind related. And it was possitively frightening. It sounded like a fleet of trucks drving by for 2 days. I can't even imagine what a tornado is like.

yequalsy:Carn: For you folks that don't live in DMV, people round these parts tend to panic at any weather or geologic event of any kind other than "sunny", so this is merely WaPo's response to the number of concerned readers who may or may not be experiencing tornado panic due to events that happened halfway across the country and are exceedingly unlikely to happen here. Still, the conditions do sometimes occur so it's not unreasonable to get some information out there.

No offense but hearing this area referred to as DMV is more annoying than people standing on the left side of Metro escalators.

No it's not. It's become an acceptable term to describe the area since DC and Maryland finally opened their arms to embrace our (Northern) Virginia neighbors.

Uisce Beatha:Rapmaster2000: But Kinison's "joke" was that the people of Ethiopia just needed to move

So Kinison makes an obviously douchey joke, but it's worse because he grew up in OK, because, what, there are natural disasters there? So where else can someone not live in order to not make douchey jokes even more douchey? Cali sees earthquakes, fires, and mudslides, so anyone from there must be out, as must Fl, La, and TX from the hurricanes, I suppose. Anywhere else?